Alabama: an example of holding an election without preclearance
A Birmingham News report begins: Winners in Tuesday's municipal election in Calera may not be able to take office if the U.S. Justice Department doesn't approve a 2008 redistricting plan before November.
In addition, runoffs between mayoral candidates Bobby Joe Phillips and Jon Graham and District 4 council candidates David Bradshaw and Brad Frasure may not take place in October, city attorney Frank "Butch" Ellis said Wednesday.
The problem stems from a redistricting plan the city submitted to the Justice Department early this year, Ellis said. There was no single district that had a majority of black voters in that plan, he said. "That's the basis of (the Justice Department's) refusal to approve. They think we should have done more to ensure continued black representation," he said. -- Calera's municipal election winners may not be able to take office - al.com